


Draglines

by BonjourMyLovelies



Category: Tom Hardy - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 09:31:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11250363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonjourMyLovelies/pseuds/BonjourMyLovelies
Summary: Draglines are used to connect the spider to the web, as safety lines in case a spider should fall and as the non-sticky spokes of the web.  Dragline silk is the strongest kind of silk because it must support the weight of the spider.





	Draglines

**Author's Note:**

> This is for a challenge where male calls female to “save his life” from a spider.

Valerie sighs, slightly irritated, as she hangs up from the call with Tommy. It’s the sixth time she’s spoken with her ex in four weeks. Staying friends with an ex is not her style. She prefers a clean break, where the conversation that ends things is the last time you ever see or speak to the other person. 

But it’s different with Tommy. He apparently didn’t get the “clean break” memo and for some reason she can’t seem to ignore him, even if his excuses for calling are pretty lame. This one takes the cake, though. 

_“A spider? Are you actually serious right now, Tommy?”_  
_“I know it’s absurd, love, but I fucking hate the bloody bastards and can’t stand to look at ‘em. You always took care of ‘em before. I thought maybe you could come sort this one out for me, too.”_  
_“Tommy, I’m not your girlfriend anymore. This isn’t how this is supposed to go.”_  
_“Please darling, just this once.”_  
_“I really don’t think I should-“_  
_“I need you, pet.”_

She never could say no to him.

This is the first time he asks to see her and the first time she’s going back to his place since she left a month ago. It’s a good reminder that she forgot to return the key and he forgot to ask for it. At least she can do that now. One more step toward a clean break, she tells herself. 

“Tommy!” she calls, pushing open the door of his apartment. “I’m here!”

She looks around at his place. The place that essentially became theirs. After they’d been dating for about four months, Tommy cleared half the drawers and closet space one day and offered her a key if she wanted it. She’d taken the key, but still kept her own place. It’s where she returned after the break up. 

Her absence here is apparent. What looks like the last months’ worth of unopened mail litters the entry table, dirty dishes sit abandoned throughout the living space, and when she glances toward the kitchen she can see more dishes overflowing from the sink. Clothes are strewn about and a bed pillow sits next to a rumpled blanket on the couch. 

She slides his apartment key off her key ring and lays it on the entry table then picks up the mail and sorts through it. Force of habit, she tells herself and sets the mail back down. 

Valerie picks her way around the mess, feeling sad about the state of things. He wasn’t very tidy by any means, but never this messy. He at least knew how to pick up a bit and wash a dish. 

“Tommy!” she calls again, louder this time. She hears his muffled voice and heads toward it. At least the dogs’ food bowls are full, she notices. Where are his fur babies?

“Val?” she hears him shout and she finds him behind the door of the guest bathroom. He’s crouched in the corner of the shower, holding both dogs tightly on either side of him. She laughs at the sight. Tommy’s been bulking up for a new role over the last few months and now looks more like Tommy Riordan from Warrior than Tommy Hardy. The change in just the last month is astounding. 

He glares at her, but she can tell he’s happy to see her, as are the pups, who quickly abandon their posts and greet her with wet kisses and nuzzles. She kneels down to love on them.

“You look ridiculous,” she jokes, straightening up and laughing again. It’s the best she can do because seeing him shirtless in a pair of gym shorts sends a flicker of desire licking down her spine. Dammit, this is not how a clean break works, she reminds herself. 

“And you look beautiful love, but that’s neither here nor there right now. We’ve a fucking assassin in here with us,” he says seriously.

Valerie rolls her eyes and leans against the door frame, crossing her arms and ignoring his compliment. The dark skinny jeans and fitted burgundy sweater do look sexy on her but aren’t meant to stir up anything. It’s what she was wearing when he called. The grey stiletto ankle boots may be a bit much, but they make her feel powerful and every girl should feel powerful when she sees her ex again for the first time, right?

“An assassin? Really, Tommy?” 

“Please, pet, just kill the fucking thing, will ya?” he whines, pushing himself deeper into the corner of the shower. She bites her lip against another laugh at the image of Tommy Riordan cowering in fear over a spider, but she can’t help it and a giggle slips out.

“It’s not funny, Val,” he pouts, drawing her attention to his full, plump lips. She remembers the last time those lips were on her body and she forces herself to look away as a familiar heat builds in her belly. 

“It’s a little funny, babe,” she replies. “Cage fighter, Tommy Riordan, defenseless against eight-legged opponent,” she teases. 

He glares at her again and opens his mouth to retort, but she cuts him off, “Bane the baby held hostage by common house spider.” Another giggle. 

He rolls his eyes and stands up in his corner, “Alright, get it all out then. What else you got?” He’s crossing his thick arms over his broad, bare chest now, looking formidable and… sexy. Dammit! 

She wracks her brain for another joke, anything to keep her mind off her delicious ex who manages to look tough and vulnerable all at the same time and it’s starting to fuck with her head.

“Wait, I got one more,” she chuckles, thankful that inspiration hits. “Charles Bronson, Britain’s most notorious prisoner, imprisoned by a spider.” 

Even he can’t hold back a laugh now and she watches him relax a bit. “Done teasin’ me, love? I’ve been in this fucking bathroom for a half hour since I saw that wanker.” He rubs his palms on his shorts nervously.

“So where is this terrible beast?” she asks, looking around the bathroom.

He stands up and gestures toward the sink. “Under the cup. I trapped the creepy bugger.” He sounds triumphant which makes her grin. 

“Why didn’t you just leave the room then, once it was trapped?” she asks, her amusement growing by the second.

“It’s between me and the door! With all those fucking legs, who knows what it’s capable of – coulda broke free of that cup and jumped at me, or something! Did you come here to help me out, pet, or just poke fun and prolong my suffering?” 

Crossing to the counter and carefully lifting the cup, she peers beneath it. Surprised to find nothing, she checks the inside, and glances at Tommy who is staring at her intently, his discomfort apparent. 

“Um, babe, there’s nothing under the cup,” she tells him. 

Panic flashes in his eyes and he’s hunkered down in the corner again. “Fuck!” he exclaims, his eyes darting around the room. “See? Nasty little fucks!” 

It deserves another laugh, but she is softening towards him, as she thinks about the way the apartment looks and how he looks, big and hulking and hiding in the shower from a tiny house spider. This break up is not going as planned, she laments. 

“Come on, babe,” she says gently. “Get out of the shower and I’ll look for it.” She knows she should stop calling him ‘babe’ but the situation is too much like how it used to be and the word slips out with ease. 

He gives her a weak smile and climbs out of the shower. There’s not much space between them as he passes by her and even though he smells of sweat, she’s completely turned on by it. It’s familiar and reminds her of his post-workout ‘workouts’ they enjoyed.

The look in his eyes tells her he is thinking about it too and she quickly breaks eye contact with him, pretending to search for the spider. He leaves her to it, though she wonders if he would have stayed close to her if not for fear of the spider. She’s not sure now if there even is a spider. A small part of her hopes there isn’t one and that he has called her over to remind her what she’s missing and… No! she screams in her head. We. Are. Done. 

The arachnid in question crawls across the wall. Smirking to herself, she removes the tiny spider and joins Tommy in the living room. He’s playing with the dogs, who are jumping excitedly at the rope toys he’s holding out to them.

“Taken care of,” she announces. “What did you do about spiders before me?”

Tommy smiles at the dogs. “I moved,” he jokes.

“Want me to sweep the rest of the premises? See if there are any more unwanted guests?” she offers lightheartedly, looking around at the mess again. 

“It’s good to see you,“ he says in response, catching her off-guard. "Thanks for coming and helping me out. You mind waiting for a few minutes while I take the shower I was intending?” He asks, still giving his attention to the dogs.

“Tommy,” she sighs, consciously avoiding the use of ‘babe’ now that the course of their encounter has taken a turn she doesn’t expect. “We’re supposed to be broken up. This is not how a break up works.”

“Please stay? Just for a bit?” His tone is almost pleading as she starts to tell him she needs to go. But he raises his eyebrows and flashes his puppy dog eyes that always get to her. 

She never could say no to him. 

She shrugs and agrees, figuring she’s already broken nearly every post break up rule she’s ever had anyway. He nods and returns to the guest bathroom, dropping his shorts to the floor before shutting the door. Valerie swallows a groan at the sight of him naked. She has half a mind to join him like she often did when they were together, but the rational half of her mind reminds her of what she just told Tommy: this not how a break up works.

She distracts herself by turning her attention to the chaos and wonders if it’s an indication of how he’s been handling their separation. It was a mutual break up, but she misses him more than she expects. Constantly hearing from him isn’t helping, but seeing him and being here… You shouldn’t have come, she scolds herself.

Valerie moves quickly around the apartment then, picking up clothes, gathering up dishes and adding them to the pile at the sink. She studies the blanket and pillow on the couch for a minute, confused by it, and then folds the blanket and stacks the pillow neatly on top. She never would have done this for any other ex, but she can’t help herself with Tommy. 

With the living room tidied, she moves to the kitchen and makes quick work of the dishes. She’s drying her hands when she hears the bathroom door open and turns to see Tommy in nothing but a towel, his tattooed chest glistening, water dripping from his tousled hair. Stronger willpower has never been employed by any woman than the self-control Valerie practices at this moment. 

“Sorry the place is such a fucking mess–,” he stops short, looking around. He furrows his brow and doesn’t look at her before disappearing into the master bedroom. Again he leaves the door open, removing his towel and hanging it on the door knob. From where she’s standing she can see his silhouette at the chest of drawers, the bed behind him, neatly made up, complete with the decorative throw pillows he always complained about. It almost looks like no one’s slept in it since she last made it up.

Things start to connect in her head and when he emerges from the bedroom clad in a pair of light colored jeans, white t-shirt and gray sweatshirt, she wonders if she should ask about the couch and the guest bathroom?

“You didn’t have to tidy up, darling, but thank you. Seems I need you for more than just spiders,” he says quietly, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of coke. “Can I get you something?”

She feels compelled to take him in her arms and kiss him like she used to but she resists. “Is someone sleeping on your couch?” she blurts. He tips the coke bottle to his lips and hesitates at her question before finally taking a sip. “And why are you using the guest bathroom?” she blurts out again. 

His eyes are darker than she expects them to be when he does finally look at her. She sees more pain and anguish than she thought possible. “Cubbie…” he says softly, calling her by the pet name he gave her when they were together. It’s a version of bear cub or lion cub or something cheesy like that, although neither of them can quite recall when or why he started using it. Hearing it now makes her weak in the knees though.

He walks slowly towards her, sipping his drink before setting it on the kitchen counter and stopping in front of her. “I miss you,” he says, reaching out to cup her cheek with a strong hand. “I haven’t been able to sleep in our bed since you left,” he confesses. 

His touch is warm and familiar, exactly how she remembers it. Valerie thinks of him sleeping on the couch each night, avoiding the master bedroom and bath altogether, and her heart aches at his admission. It isn’t easy for her without him either. She’s fucking miserable without him if she’s being honest. But she says nothing because she knows if she does anything with her mouth it will be to press it against his. 

“Remind me why we split, love?” he asks, brushing his thumb across her lips. The touch electrifies her and she knows without a doubt that she wouldn’t tell him why they split, even if she could remember at this moment. She’s caught up in him now, and wants his lips on hers and his hands on her body and she wants to take the clothes off he just put on. She wants to feel rippling muscles and trace his tattoos with her fingers and her tongue. She wants her jeans and sweater and boots on the floor next to his clothes. Eh, maybe leave the boots on… 

Against her better judgement, her hands go to his chest and she grabs handfuls of his sweatshirt, pulling him into her, their lips crashing together. Her kiss is filled with heat and desire and missing him, everything she has tried to hold back since her arrival. He holds her cheek firmly and wraps his arm around the small of her back, pulling her into him and she can feel his desire pressing against her thigh. It matches the heat gathering between her legs and she slips her arms around his shoulders, their kiss intensifying. The furthest thing from her mind right now is that they are supposed to be broken up. 

Tommy’s phone rings then and he immediately pulls away, slipping the phone from his pocket and checking the screen. He seems unhappy at the interruption but looks at her apologetically. “I have to take this. I’m sorry, love. I’ll only be a moment.” He sighs, his gaze lingering on her lips before he turns away and answers his phone.

He walks out onto the porch, dogs following him, and closes the sliding door behind him, leaving her alone in the apartment. It snaps her out of the trance and her lingering desire mixes with disappointment and frustration. Now she remembers at least one reason why they separated. Snippets of their last fight swirl in her mind with words like priorities, boundaries, and choices. 

The memory is exactly the reason she prefers a clean break. This is exactly why she has break up rules. She can’t be tempted to return to a man that was bad for her if she is never faced with him again. With renewed resolve, Valerie heads for the door. 

A picture on the coffee table catches her eye and she stops, remembering the snapshot. It’s a photo of the two of them together, huge smiles lighting up their faces. He had flown her to London where he was filming to help her celebrate achieving a huge promotion – one that he had supported her through in every way possible.

Now she can’t help but also remember how good he was for her. She briefly considers staying and waiting for him to come back inside. But the sting of what just happened is still fresh and she tells herself she can’t let him off the hook so easy. 

Opening the door, she steps out into the hallway but hesitates. Just before the door closes she reaches back inside and picks up the key she left on the table, slipping it back on her key ring. 

Perhaps, for Tommy Hardy, she can rewrite the rule book.


End file.
